Follow by Email

Graphene is an ultra-thin form of carbon that
could transform the world of electronics.

It’s harder than diamond, 300
times stronger than steel, conducts electricity better than copper and
could be the magic material that makes smartphones bendable. Discovered
only in the last decade, graphene has the potential to revolutionize
everything from consumer devices to medicine.

Scientists
back in the 1940s had theories that an ultra-thin, strong and light
material such as graphene might exist, but the path to discovery really
began in 2002 at the University of Manchester. A researcher named Andre
Geim asked his PhD student Kostya Novoselov to polish a piece of
graphite — the form of carbon that is commonly used to make pencil lead —
to see how thin he could make it.

Nothing
much came of this until a Ukranian scientist, Oleg Shklyarevskii,
noticed that the Manchester researchers were cleaning up their
experiments by picking up the graphite dust using Scotch tape. The
material on the tape was thinner than the graphite they were polishing.

By
2004, Geim and Novoselov had isolated the graphene flakes and published
their research on its properties, winning the Nobel Prize in physics
for their work in 2010. At least $60-million has gone into further
research around the world since then, and in early May, over 800
scientists and graphene-applications experts attended the fourth global
Graphene Conference in France.

Graphene
is a form of carbon, just like graphite, or for that matter, diamonds
and charcoal. Carbon atoms can combine to form myriad complicated
networks; they are the basic building block of organic life.

What
makes graphene special is that it is only one atom thick — a
nano technologist’s dream. The single graphene atoms bond together in a
honeycomb pattern, creating a material that’s strong and virtually
two-dimensional. This gives it enormous potential in many fields, from
electronics to energy, medicine and beyond.

Among the possibilities:

Super-batteries:
Researchers at UCLA have burned a layer of graphene onto a DVD to
create a supercapacitor that can charge 100 to 1,000 times faster than a
battery. Developing this technology further could mean electric cars
that charge as fast as it takes to pump a tank of gas, or phones and
tablets that recharge in five seconds.

Clean
water: Scientists at MIT are looking at whether a graphene membrane can
be just porous enough to filter salt from seawater, which would greatly
reduce the cost of desalination and create almost unlimited supplies of
fresh water.

Über-uploads: Graphene may make it possible to upload a terabyte (1,000 gigabytes) of data in one second.

Cleanup:
One-atom-thick flakes of graphene oxide can bind to toxic materials and
condense them into solids. This experimental discovery, reported by
Rice University researchers, could help in the cleanup of sites such as
the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan and cut the cost of waste
management for natural gas ‘fracking’ and rare-earth mining.

Consumer
technology: Researchers are looking at how to produce touchscreens
made of graphene-coated plastic instead of glass, making them lighter,
more break-resistant −and bendable. Apple, Google and Samsung are
investing heavily in a race to deploy graphene in future high-tech
devices, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

Bionic
Repairs: There may come a time when graphene is used in medical devices
in living tissues that connect to neurons. This has exciting prospect
for people with spinal injuries, who could regain the use their arms or
legs.

Graphene does have some drawbacks. A
study in the Proceedings of the (U.S.) National Academies of Science
reports that it has sharp edges that can pierce lung or skin cells.
Another study suggests that graphene released into freshwater could
cause severe damage to rivers and lakes.

In
addition, despite all the breakthroughs since graphene was first
isolated in 2004, it’s still hard to mass-produce. Graphene produced in
bulk tends to fray at the edges, becoming brittle and losing one of its
key advantages, strength.

On
the other hand, because it is so thin, commercial graphene only has to
be produced by the kilo rather than the tonne. The real breakthrough may
come when the cost of production falls. According to the Paris Tech
Review, it costs about $800 to make a gram now, compared with less than
one dollar for a gram of electronics-grade silicon.

0
comments:

Post a Comment

Write 4 namesake-expert

Thank you for your interest in being part of the namesake-expert writing community.namesake-expert publishes original news content, opinion pieces, trending topics and breaking stories in the area of technology, entertainment, business, politics, lifestyle, videos,sports, lifestyle and women’s issues. Articles must be written in English, published first on namesake-expert and will be reviewed by the “seasoned” namesake-expert Team.If you are interested revert back to proud2_besingle@yahoo.co.in

side l

Texts

images in posts are not related to the content .it pasted to relate the content or to describe the message of post.if any photo of any person in post hurting any sentiment it can be removed busted. pls complain it to this Email -->proud2_besingle@yahoo.co.in